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Was Robert Follis, his coach at Xtreme Couture, concerned about Lee’s plan for such a massive weight cut?

“No,” he said on Thursday, a day before the officials weigh-ins. “We’ve done this every camp. He’s a huge dude. And I would venture to say Tony’s probably not a lot smaller at this point.

“You’re talking about the big, big guys in this division. They all have tough weight cuts. Until we make a change in the rules, that’s going to be what it is. Until they add some weight classes or change how the weight cuts go, if you want to be a dominant force, you’re going to be pushing that envelope. And I don’t expect it to be a problem this week.”

Lee, who’s No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, benefited from some timing, other contenders’ injuries/schedules, and a seemingly legit rivalry with No. 3-ranked Ferguson to get his shot at an interim belt. However, a close call with his weigh-in nearly spoiled the title shot.

But Follis said he knew early on from working with Lee that he’s something special and is champion-material. It’s one reason he wasn’t concerned about the 25-year-old fighter’s massive weight cut possibly hindering his performance at UFC 216.

Why?

“I’ve worked with a lot of athletes over the years, and I’ve had guys coming up on 18 years in the UFC, and he’s one of the top athletes I ever worked with,” Follis said. “His mental strength is very good. Like he even said: Between rounds, he’s a very smart fighter. He’s able to listen, make adjustments, and go out there and put the corrections in on the fly.

“So I feel like we’ve earned this shot. This isn’t something that we’re in over our heads with. We’re very well prepared. We’ve been working for this since we started working together four years ago, and we expect to go out and win a belt.”